Separating beauties from beasts

The minute I heard about Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed, I knew that it had to be mine.

That badass name, the fact that it was green with flakies, and learning that it was a layering polish were all signs that pointed to a Mary Must Buy! 😉

My first instinct was to layer Toxic Seaweed over a green, but since I was already wearing a fuchsia violet, Illamasqua Stance, I became curious to discover how it would transform an already-beautiful polish.

To my wild delight, the berry shade took on a blue tone, which allowed the green sparkles and red flakies to punctuate the manicure brilliantly. I think it even has a little bit of a galaxy-nails personality.

Toxic Seaweed by Cult Nails is a very unique glitter-flakie nail polish in a green-tinted base. It looks like the glitter pieces are mainly green. And there are distinct flakies scattered throughout that look red, orange, and gold.

I have absolutely nothing similar to Toxic Seaweed, and I can’t think of any dupes currently on the market, which makes this nail polish extra special.

Finish

Toxic Seaweed has a glitter-flakie finish as mentioned. It dries with a noticeable texture, but it isn’t extremely rough and scratchy. However, if you want your nails to feel and look glossy, you’ll require a good top coat to smooth everything out.

Application & Formula

The polish was on the thicker side, which is why I only needed a single coat when layering over another polish. It wasn’t challenging to apply it smoothly, but it also didn’t flow onto the nails like a buttery polish. (That’s pretty typical of polishes with this finish, though.)

Layering

I’ll definitely be using Toxic Seaweed as a layering polish rather than sporting it alone. For one, when you use it just for layering, you typically just need to use a single coat. What does that mean? It’s also easier to remove later than if you have multiple layers of glitter.

Also, after my experiment with layering Toxic Seaweed over a non-green, I’m curious to see how it fares over other colours.

However, I realize that a lot of you may want to wear it solo. So, I took the liberty of swatching it on a nail wheel to show you exactly what you can expect in terms of opacity.

As you’ll see, with 3 coats, there’s a decent amount of coverage.

Natural Light (Left-Right): 1 coat, 2 coats & 3 coats

Flash (Left-Right): 1 coat, 2 coats & 3 coats

Limited-Edition Shade

According to the Cult Nails website, Toxic Seaweed is a limited-edition shade. (Interesting tidbit: It was made with the same flakies as the now-sold-out Cult Nails Unicorn Puke aka Cult Nails Clairvoyant).

How long will it be around? Until it sells out! So if you’re interested in this colour, it’s a good idea to buy it now before you regret it.

Pros

Unique glitter-flakie combination in a tinted-green base

Can be used solo or for layering

Cons

Limited-edition shade

Has a noticeable texture that requires a top coat to smooth out

Final Verdict: 10/10

I really love Toxic Seaweed because when I used it for layering, it gave me a taste of galaxy nails (a look that I’ve been thinking of trying for quite some time). 🙂

Also, considering that I have so many polishes and can’t even think of something I have that’s remotely similar, I’m very impressed with how unique this baby is! (Bravo to the owner, Maria, for dreaming up and producing a novel nail polish.) 😀

What do you think of Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed? Have you tried the galaxy-nail look yet? Are there polishes you turn to over and over again for layered manicures?

I love Toxic Seaweed! Another Cult nail hitsville with this one! Seeing it on the nail wheel and not as a topper over another shade, TS has a tish bit of the look of CG Atlantis – one of their discontinued specialty glitters.

I love my Toxic Seaweed too! I missed out on Unicorn Puke/Clairvoyant so I was determined to get my paws on this. I havent tried layering it over any other polishes other than Cult Nails Let Me Fly. But I think with the flakies it makes it a lil chameleon like and can kinda work over a lot of colors.Frosso recently posted: And The Winner Is…..

Oh, that’s too bad that you missed out on Unicorn Puke – it’s so pretty. But, yes, at least you have Toxic Seaweed! 🙂 You know, I bought an extra bottle of Toxic Seaweed and of Unicorn Puke. I was thinking about using them for an upcoming giveaway. Still not sure when that’ll happen, but it’s an idea…

Wow, I absolutely love the way this looks over the purple Illamasqua. I haven’t bit the bullet on any Cult polishes yet, but this one may very well have to be my first! I have been on a huge layering kick myself lately, I have been reaching for lots of chunky glitters and sheer color-morphing topcoats =) I can’t stop layering!Jacqui recently posted: Hunger Games Midnight Premiere Day featuring China Glaze Agro

Ooooh! I like how you layered it over a fuschia–that’s definitely an unexpected combo. It turned out really well! What other colors are you thinking of layering this over? Oh, and I love the name “Toxic Seaweed”. Makes me think of glowing radioactive algae or something, but this polish is pretty and sparkly like a mermaid’s tail :).

You are killing me with all these nail polishes that I want. That I need! lol This looks really amazing. Since the glitter seems so fine, is it still a super deluxe pain to remove?lacquerloon recently posted: Emerald Konadicure

I only used a single coat of Toxic Seaweed, so it wasn’t too difficult to remove. It wasn’t a total breeze, but it came off without having to rub my fingers raw. If you’re going to use 3 coats of Toxic Seaweed, I think it probably will be harder to remove because of the glitter and flakie combination.

Love this combo, Mary!! It looks awesome! (So says the die-hard blue fan) 😀 I never would have thought to wear it like this. Instead, I tried wearing it over a pale blue foil (Color Club Lumin-icecent, to be exact) and it looked all the more seaworthy, to me at least. I guess I was going for something akin to DL Mermaid’s Dream as I know the only way I’ll own that polish is if it goes on sale (too expensive for my budget!). 😛

Deborah Lippmann’s Mermad’s Dream is also on my list, but…the wallet gave me a stern talking-to. One day…maybe!

Dusty and musted pastels are so spring-like – really feeling them more so than ever before. Must had something to do with how we went from winter to summer so quickly.

On an unrelated note, I’m loving your Hunger Games manicures, Carmela! 😀 Thanks for being one of the many to recommend that I read the books. After enjoying the first one, I now know that I must watch the movie (probably tonight, actually) and buy the other 2 books in the series.

Definitely! I can’t even look at my vampies anymore. :S Just not in the mood for them.

Aww, thanks so much! They take sooo much more work than the usual post since it’s a review of 3 colors plus how they relate to the books. I might have bitten off more than I can chew but I’m halfway done so it’s all good. And it always makes it all worth it when people like you tell me how much they’ve enjoyed them. I hope I haven’t spoiled you for the other two books and that you get them soon! And lucky that you’re seeing it tonight! Now, I’m really jealous! 😛 I might have to wait till Sunday but that’s okay. 😀 Hope you have a blast, Mary!!Carmela recently posted: The Hunger Games and China Glaze Capitol Colors: The Hopeful featuring Mahogany Magic, Dress Me Up, and Smoke and Ashes

I love how this manicure came to be… how by fluke/convenience you added the two shades and created pure genious… isn’t that how most lovely things come to be? 😀
I adore this combo! I really do.
I hope to get my shipment in soon so that I can play with some Toxic stuff 😉Marta recently posted: Stamped Crackle?

When you mentioned “pure genius”, you made me think of that Food Network show, “Sweet Genius”. Have you seen it? The judge is so cold and snarky. I’ve seen a few episodes and thought, “If I were on that show, I’d be shaking like a leaf falling off a branch.” That guy is so intimidating with his comments and also just the way he presents himself.

Okay, so that was a little off-track. 🙂

I can’t wait to see all the creative manicures you can come up with using Toxic Seaweed!

No, I never saw that episode, but wish I had. Do you watch Iron Chef, too? Have you seen the episode where Chef Morimoto makes a smoker out of ice? That was really neat – something I’ve never seen before. Then, in a later episode, Chef Flay copied his idea.